I just found out I have a herniated disk at disk 5 on my lumbar spine. I already have had  nerve and muscle damage as well as bone spurs in my cervical spine since 2002. I I have osteoarthritis too. I take a lot of medicine and get alot of pain injections for that but the treatment never helps for long and it never ever makes the pain go any lowe than alevel 3-4 on my best days, I am afraid that my lower back is going to turn into the same nightmare that my neck has been. My pain specialist said I could either get an EMG go see a surgeon or try to epidurals to see if they would helpw, he did not tell me that he had his nurse tell me. My family is afraid if I have injections or epidurals in my lower back I will end up needed them all the time like I do in my neck. I do not know what to do.